Claimants challenging disability benefit decisions will be able to claim a new Short Term Assistance payment under Scotland’s new social security system
The Scotland Act 2016 gave the Scottish Government new powers relating to social security, including responsibility over certain benefits.
However, it is to delay the introduction of the Child Disability Payment and the Scottish Personal Independence Payment for an indefinite period in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Short Term Assistance will mean people continue to receive the amount of money they were getting before the decision was made to lower or stop their payment.
To ensure people are not put off seeking an appeal or re-determination, they will not have to repay Short Term Assistance if the re-determination or appeal upholds the decision to lower or stop their social security payment.
Scotland’s Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:
“We know that it can be difficult for people who rely on disability assistance when their payment has been reduced or stopped. The decision to ask for a re-determination or appeal can be daunting.
This new payment will give people the confidence to ask us to look again and to go to appeal if they feel they need to, ensuring they get everything they may be entitled while working through this process.
We hope to drastically reduce the need for people to go through the re-determination and appeal process under our new system by getting the decisions right first time. Where we don’t get it right though, we will give people who rely on this service the opportunity to right this wrong, without being penalised.”
For more information see New benefit system to offer short term assistance available from gov.scot.
The Scottish Government regularly publish social security position papers at www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-policy-position-papers/.